Coco Tea was one of the few
early dancehall stars to carve out a consistent, productive
career as the genre evolved over the years. His cool-toned,
laid-back vocals were perfect for sweet, smooth lovers rock, and
gave him a distinct identity amid his more aggressive peers.
Still, he was also capable of toughening up his sound on his
cultural protest material, which was often sharply perceptive.
Tea was born Calvin Scott on September 3, 1959, in Rocky Point,
a small town in Jamaica's Clarendon parish. He sang in his
church and school choirs as a youth, and made his first
recordings for producer Willie Francis in 1974 at the mere age
of 14; one single, "Searching in the Hills," was released under
his given name, but went nowhere. He spent the next few years
working as a racehorse jockey, then as a fisherman; during the
latter occupation, he began to rediscover his musical ambitions,
performing with the traveling sound systems that passed through
local dancehalls.

In 1983, he moved to Kingston and adopted the performing name
Coco Tea, after the Jamaican term for hot chocolate (later
alternate spellings would include Coco Tea and Coco T). He soon
met top dancehall producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and recorded a
series of hit singles that included "Rocking Dolly," "I Lost My
Sonia," "Informer," and "Can't Stop Cocoa Tea." His first album,
Weh Dem a Go Do...Can't Stop Coco Tea, was released in 1985 and
compiled many of his previous successes (a slightly different
version, Rocking Dolly, was later issued in the U.S.). Lawes
moved his operation to New York, and King Jammy became Tea's
primary producer just as he was beginning to expand his focus to
Rastafarian lyrical themes. The results included two albums,
1986's The Marshall and 1987's Come Again, and hit singles in
those two title tracks, "Tune In," and "Settle Down," among
others.

In 1989, a supergroup
featuring Tea, Shabba Ranks, and Home T recorded together under
the auspices of both King Jammy and Gussie Clarke. The resulting
album, Holding On, was a major hit in Jamaica, as were the
singles "Pirates Anthem" and "Who She Love." Still an extremely
viable solo artist, Tea recorded the biggest socially conscious
hit of his career to date, "Riker's Island," in 1991, and
supported it with an album of the same name. His strident
anti-Gulf War commentaries "Oil Ting" and "No Blood for Oil"
were banned on radio in Jamaica and the U.K.; the latter was
included on a second supergroup album, Another One for the Road,
for which Cutty Ranks replaced Shabba. Tea's next major solo hit
was the lovers rock tune "Good Life," produced by Philip "Fatis"
Burrell. He was able to maintain a steady, solid level of
popularity into the late '90s, with hits for Burrell (1996's
"Israel King," 1997's King Sporty cover "I'm Not a King") and
Bobby "Digital" Dixon (1995's "Holy Mount Zion"), plus a
collaboration with Cutty Ranks on the 1997 Bob Marley cover
"Waiting in Vain." Much of his mid-'90s material was collected
on Holy Mount Zion, which was released in 1997 by the legendary
Motown label. Further albums included 1998's One Way and 2001's
Feel the Power.